Religion Comparisons, Essay Example

Confucianism

Confucianism is a philosophy because there are no Confucian deities or teachings about the afterlife. Confucius preached that human morals should be based on human relationships, without any reference to some higher order. Confucius also emphasized that our behaviors in daily life should not be based on the expectations of rewards or punishments after death but instead to develop an ideal society. In addition, according to Confucianism the purpose of life is not to strengthen relationship with divine deities but instead to reach one’s highest potential as a human being.

Jainism and Sikhism

The similarities between Jainism and Sikhism are as follows:

• Both Jainism and Sikhism originated in India and have more followers there than any other country in the world.
• Both Jainism and Sikhism believe in Karma and Rebirth.
• Both emphasize an individual’s quest to seek purification, live a moral life, and be good to others.
• Even though both Jainism and Sikhism have elements of Hinduism, they reject the authority of the Vedas.
• Both religions preach charity to the less well-off members of the society.
• Both Sikhism and Jainism have a single founder unlike Hinduism.
• Both Sikhs and Jains celebrate Sikhs celebrate Diwali because 3^rd Sikh Guru Amar Das established Diwali as a Red-Letter Day when Sikhs gather to receive blessings from the Gurus. Jains celebrate Diwali because the founder of modern Jainism, Mahavir Tirthankar attained his Nirvana on Diwali day.

The differences between Jainism and Sikhism are as follows:

• Jainism is purely vegetarian religion which doesn’t allow any meat consumption due to the Ahimsa principle while Sikhism allows his followers to eat meat.
• Sikhs believe in a divine deity while Jainism doesn’t believe in any divine deity.
• Jainism preaches strict nonviolence while Sikhism has a history of military campaigns. Dagger is one of Sikhism’s religious symbols.
• Unlike Sikhism whose headquarter is Amritsar in Indian Punjab, Jainism has no headquarter.
• Sikhism considers women equal to men while the Digambara sect in Jainism sees women as inferior to men.
• Sikhism believes that god created the universe while Jainism believes that universe has existed since infinity and was not created by anyone.

Church and State in Pre-WWII Japan

Japan didn’t practice the separation of church and state before WWII asJapanese emperor was considered a living god and his worship was compulsory for all the citizens. According to the Japanese Constitution of 1889, the Emperor had divine power over the country. Shinto was the state’s official religion before WWII though the church and the state separated after the war. In addition, the Public Security Preservation Law of 1941 gave the state a right to destroy any religious group whose teachings varied from emperor worship.